Obama Flexes The Power of Political Social Networking for Healthcare

The letter below is what the Obama “Organizing for America” group is sending out to its email list to put the voters in play on this issue. Pre election this list was over 8 million strong and has only grown thru the Whitehouse.gov website…. No President has ever had the power of the network and the speed of the web behind him. It swept Obama to power and we will wee how it impacts this crtical piece of his agenda as it is used to its full might.

John —

The fight to fix America’s healthcare system is here. Monday, President Obama laid out his roadmap by announcing three principles for healthcare reform and calling on Congress to act this year. Hundreds of thousands of us joined that call online. Then — yesterday morning — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responded, pledging to bring real healthcare reform to a vote by July 31st!

Special interest lobbyists and partisan ideologues will now go into overdrive, spreading distortions and twisting arms in D.C. to water down the final plan — or stop it entirely. They did it before, and they’re betting they can do it again. But they’re forgetting something: you.

With your support, we can train volunteers, hire organizers, place ads, hold local educational events, bring constituent voices straight to Congress, and make sure your real life stories are heard louder than the lobbyists’ spin. But executing this plan will require a lot of resources, and with just 78 days or less before the first crucial vote, we can’t wait another minute to begin.

Last November, Americans sent a strong message that we are ready to take the serious steps we need for change. Obama laid out those steps on health care this week with his three core principles: reduce costs, guarantee choice, and ensure every American has quality, affordable health care.

But special interests will spend millions making sure politicians and the Washington establishment forget that message. They’ll say reforming health care is too difficult and too costly. And they’ll say it’s too much change all at one time. They’ll say it simply can’t be done. But we know the answer to that: yes we can.

For every distortion they put on the airwaves, we must immediately broadcast the facts. For every deceptive pamphlet they send in the mail, we must have a volunteer going door to door, ready to have a real conversation and break through the spin. For every lobbyist cutting deals in the back rooms of DC, we need a thousand calls, letters, stories, and visits from regular Americans who will settle for nothing less than the real healthcare reform this country needs.

This challenge is what Organizing for America was designed for. Together, we can transform the way change is made in this country — but we can’t wait another day to begin.

Your contribution to our healthcare campaign is the vital first step that will enable us to hire the staff, open the local offices, train the volunteers, design and place the ads, and put all the other pieces in place we need to execute this urgent plan. Please chip in $25 today:

America has been wrestling with our spiraling healthcare crisis for a long time. But with your help, this time will be different. This time, the people will be heard. And when the dust settles before the end of this year, every American will finally have the quality, affordable health care we need and deserve.